The city authorities are gradually extinguishing sports in the mining town with continuous rent hikes, forcing clubs to raise participation fees, said Sergei Mihhailov, head of the Kohtla-Järve swimming club Aktiiv.

"With the current rental rates, the city is burying youth sports. Kids will start spending their time on the streets because I fear that the price increases will drive them away from training," Mihhailov said.

The city justifies the rent increase by citing higher costs and previously low rates.

"Our support for sports activities is significant, as we even spend more on sports than on road and street repairs, and that should be enough. However, unfortunately, there are also clubs that have not acted honestly. They start with a large number of kids on the first day of practice. Later, the number drops to two or three times less, but the same list is submitted to claim per capita funding for the entire year," said Kohtla-Järve Mayor Henri Kaselo.

This year, the city's chief auditor plans to begin auditing sports clubs, starting with those that receive the most support, Kaselo added.

After the audit, the allocation of youth sports subsidies to clubs should be better regulated.

"Funds must be redirected to those who are actually functioning, where children consistently attend training and where there are no fictitious lists. I've heard from various sources that this kind of violation is quite widespread," the mayor said.

For the current year, the city of Kohtla-Järve has allocated a total of half a million euros to support youth sports for 25 clubs.

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